An avalanche buried a snowmobiler in northern Utah this week, in what forecasters called the first accident of the season.

Luckily the man survived.

According to a report from the Utah Avalanche Center, a snowmobiler was “riding sideways along the hill” in a hollow under a cliff in Steep Hollow in the Franklin Basin area of ​​the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest on Christmas Eve when he triggered a snow slide. He watched as the avalanche swept up his brother, who was standing on the slope next to his snowmobile. The snow carried him about 150 meters and buried him completely.

The man’s brother used a transceiver to get close enough to see a few fingers of a gloved hand sticking out of the snow, the report said.

After digging him out, the two were able to leave the backcountry together on a snowmobile. The victim suffered minor injuries.

The danger of avalanches is high

With heavy snow and strong winds – possibly up to 60 miles per hour on some peaks – expected to continue over the next few days, meteorologists at the Utah Avalanche Center expect avalanche danger to increase on many slopes in northern and central Utah as well will rise too high in southeastern Idaho.

“Because the new snow will overload the weak, edged snow that already exists, avalanches can be triggered from hundreds of meters away, creating particularly difficult and dangerous conditions,” the center said.

The Utah Avalanche Center urges those heading to the mountains to stay up to date with the latest avalanche forecast at utahavalanchecenter.org. In a video summary of current conditions filmed at about 9,500 feet in Big Cottonwood Canyon, forecaster Trent Meisenheimer notes that Utah has had little snow this season, but the base is soft and sugary.

“We have a very dangerous snowpack,” he said. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but honestly, we are in for a very dangerous winter in Utah. … This is not the year to ride in avalanche areas.”

Meisenheimer said snowmobilers, sledders, snowshoers, skiers or snowboarders should not be on terrain or slopes steeper than 30 degrees.

Backcountry safety tips

The Utah Avalanche Center offers the following safety tips:

• As avalanche danger increases, it is safest to stay away from backcountry avalanche areas. Avoid standing on, under or near slopes steeper than approximately 30 degrees.
• Check everyone in your group for working avalanche rescue equipment and make sure everyone knows how to use it.
• Skiers and snowboarders who leave the resort boundaries should be aware that they may enter avalanche-prone terrain.
• When you go into the backcountry, don’t go alone. If you must enter avalanche terrain, traverse steep slopes one at a time while your companions watch from a safer location.